Chapter 1

・The story is about being transported to a different world just like the game, and achieving a different kind of dominance there.

・It takes a bit of time before the protagonist is reborn, but if you're interested, please proceed.

※In February 2016, I made a complete revision and significantly changed the content, changing lactation to milking. The book version is based on the pre-revision content. While the content differs from the Narou version, the story itself remains the same.

“Aah... I guess I’m dead.”

Life had been hard mode just because I had social anxiety. The past tense is used because I’m already dead.

Things like giving a bad impression to others, not being able to express my thoughts properly, and not being able to make eye contact made my life quite difficult.

Well, there’s no point in thinking about things before I died, so I’ll stop there. What I should be thinking about now is what happens after a person dies. I didn’t do anything to deserve going to heaven. Although the life I was given by my parents was precious, I gave it up quite easily. And it was for a reason like saving an old childhood friend I had grown distant from.

“But... what does it mean that I still have consciousness?”

Even I, with my social anxiety, can ask myself questions. However, when it comes to talking to other people, the difficulty level suddenly rises.

First, I can’t make eye contact with people. Since I couldn’t overcome this even as a child, I was always the last one left over during class group assignments, and even with my parents present, I couldn’t have a proper conversation during parent-teacher conferences. I must have been told to “look people in the eye when you talk” a thousand times in my life. I sincerely apologize to those who told me that.

“... I keep thinking about the past.”

To confirm where I am now, it’s completely dark. And while I have consciousness, I don’t have a body. I hope you can understand the feeling of being thrown into a weightless space. It’s like the “first-person view” in games. I have vision and can think, but I can’t move.

“Is this what happens after you die... Damn, I shouldn’t have died.”

If I had known this would happen, even though I lost all my assets to a hack, I should have stayed at home and restarted.

‘Eternal Magia.’ This game, in which I invested more than a third of my short life.

I didn’t have many friends to play with since elementary school, but in the online game, I somehow managed to communicate well with others. It was a top-down MMORPG, so there was no need to make eye contact with other characters.

And when I typed on the keyboard, I could talk without being nervous, unlike in real life. In the game, I could have high social skills.

“Ah, I’m starting to feel depressed.”

I remember what another childhood friend said: “What’s the point of being able to talk in the game if you can’t talk in real life?” He was a guy I knew from elementary school until I died in high school, so we had known each other for almost ten years.

The fact that he and the other childhood friend I risked my life to save were “together” was one of the reasons I went from a semi-recluse to a full recluse. But I don’t hate him. I just hope he finds happiness.

“Well, I saved her with my life...”

That’s right, I had a habit of saying things that were different from my true feelings. I was grateful to the friends who tried to get me out of my reclusive state, but I always said the opposite.

Things like, “Did you make a deal with the teacher to improve my grades?” or “I’m happiest here. You guys outside are living miserable lives. Real life is crap...” and so on.

“But, I knew deep down... that I was the one who was marginalized and pitiful.”

“Oh...! What, where did that come from!?”

Suddenly, I heard a voice, and I became extremely nervous. I hate it when I’m put on the spot and asked to respond quickly or stay calm.

“Why are you so afraid of talking to people? Your heart doesn’t seem to have any significant trauma.”

“W-What do you mean, where are you talking from!?”

In the pitch-black, vast space, I heard a voice even though no one was there. I play horror games, but I’m such a chicken that I play them with the sound turned down to the minimum and watch anime at the same time. No matter what suddenly appears, as long as I can change the screen, I’m not alone. What am I talking about?

“If you can’t feel at ease unless you see me... here. Is this okay?”

“...”

Before I could ask what was okay, my vision suddenly became bright.

What is this... the clouds outside look like a sea? It reminds me of a ‘floating temple’ in a game.

Anyway, I was in a place that looked like a fantasy temple. I still didn’t have a body.

And in front of me, a woman suddenly appeared. She looked younger than I did in life, had beautiful silver hair, and had long ears.

She was similar to the forest race in Eternal Magia, which was good at magic, like elves.

“I’m glad you remember. If your memories remain even in a state of just soul and spirit, it’s much easier to talk. Usually, a lot of things are lost in that state.”

“What do you mean by ‘soul and spirit’... Don’t joke around, I don’t understand what you’re saying...”

But I was thinking, “I see,” despite my words. I think there are different types of social anxiety, but mine was mainly about being bad at talking and not being able to communicate my intentions properly.

I think different things, but say something else. It seems that even now, as just a ‘soul and spirit,’ this hasn’t changed.

‘Soul and spirit’... I remember it from a manga I like, so it’s probably that.

“I see... You’re very thoughtful, but when you talk to people, you get nervous and say things that are even more aggressive than what you think. In other words, you’re not being honest and are being contrary.”

“What do you mean... Are you judging me? Do you think you’re a god just because you’re in a temple? Ha, that’s funny.”

‘But, I guess you’re probably a god. What do you want with someone like me? It’s been a while since I’ve had a proper conversation with someone, so I’m kind of happy. But I’m probably annoying... You’re beautiful, so I don’t want to be disliked...’

—What is this? What I was thinking, even though I didn’t try to say it, came out as sound.

“Hmm... If you’re happy and think I’m beautiful, it’s better to say it clearly. You always say the opposite of what you think, don’t you? That’s why you’ve been misunderstood, right?”

“N-No...”

‘I was misunderstood by Yona... She always wore the same barrette, so I said, “You wear it a lot, don’t you? It’s childish, isn’t it?”... After that, she never wore it again. If that hadn’t happened, maybe she wouldn’t have gone to Kyouji... Ah, I’m such a mess. It’s over.’

Again, everything I was thinking... This is bad, everything I want to say is getting through. And this time, it’s something I can’t explain away as just being due to my social anxiety.

“Hmm... So you liked Yona. She was taken by Kyouji, another childhood friend. And there was another unfortunate event, right?”

“You can see everything... Ha, then there’s no need to ask, is there?”

‘After becoming a recluse, to avoid causing trouble for my parents, I thought of ways to earn money... I saved in-game currency in Eternal Magia and planned to do RMT. It was a bad thing to do, but I had no other way to earn money... I finally saved two trillion Eta, which would have been worth twenty million in real money... But I was scammed by someone in the same guild, my password was stolen, and my account was hacked.’

When I logged in, my level and skills were still there, but all my items and money were gone.

I started playing from the fourth grade of elementary school and continued for over 20,000 cumulative hours until the first year of high school. Everything I had gained in that time disappeared in an instant.

If I had cashed out a day earlier. If I had done it in smaller amounts... None of those regrets came first.

For a few days after that, I lived like a zombie. At that time, I didn’t think I would die.

The reason I, a recluse, left the house was because I saw Yona and Kyouji arguing in the rain in front of my house.

Kyouji didn’t chase after Yona when she ran away, and I, even though I couldn’t do anything, chased after Yona and ran out of the house.

“... I have one thing to tell you. Sooner or later, people who played ‘Eternal Magia’ will be faced with a choice between the real world and a different world.”

“Huh...?”

‘Wait, I don’t understand. Wasn’t it just a game? Why would there be a choice between the real world and a different world?’

“There’s no need to explain that. You died unexpectedly early, so this ‘interview’ is happening sooner than planned.”

“Unexpectedly...?”

‘So, the fact that I went out of the house that day and tried to save Yona... was unexpected even to the god?’

I didn’t expect that my true feelings would be so easy to express. It’s embarrassing to have my true feelings conveyed, but it’s a hundred times better than being misunderstood.

If I had been like this when I was alive... No, that would have made life difficult too. There’s no point in thinking about it.

“First, people who played Eternal Magia for over 20,000 hours are almost non-existent among the 150,000 players worldwide. You, Morihito Morihara, were at the top in Japan. You were targeted for account hacking because you didn’t waste much of your playtime and were ‘earning,’ ‘collecting,’ and ‘training.’”

“Damn... Even though the equipment is level-capped, why did they know I was saving so much?”

“Simply put, your playstyle gathered a lot of envy. You were even the leader of one of the two major guilds in Eternal Magia, known as the ‘Two Giants.’”

My social skills in the online game were all-around.

Not just with other players, but with non-player characters as well. I invested 100 bonus points into a skill called ‘Negotiation,’ which was considered a ‘dead skill’ that no one else wanted. At level cap 75, you only get 3 points per level, and it’s almost impossible to increase them with items, so I maxed out this valuable skill.

No one else, except me, had more than 10 points in Negotiation. A 10-point investment in ‘Bargaining’ was considered useful, but after that, there were no new skills until 30 points, and the only skill you could get was the low-success-rate ‘Persuade,’ so no one invested points in Negotiation. Leveling up was difficult, and characters couldn’t be easily discarded, and there were hundreds of other skills in Eternal Magia that were visibly useful.

While there are stories in online games about people using cheats to unlock all skills and dominate, in Eternal Magia, the protection on stats was abnormally tight, and no one could manipulate the numbers. Even famous hackers couldn’t crack the black box.

Anyway, I was the only one who knew about another world because I had 100 points in Negotiation.

Kings who wouldn’t even talk unless you had 100 points in Negotiation bowed to me, and legendary NPCs who were said to have defeated the Demon King could be hired as mercenaries through negotiation.

Using this, I carefully avoided drawing attention and soloed dungeons that no one else could clear, gradually providing information and increasing my allies.

As a result, I had a vast number of allies, and I was asked to form a guild, becoming the guild master.